Even dessert can be a secret weight-loss tool. That said, it’s important to focus on hydration, getting high-quality protein (to help rebuild your cells, muscle and organs) and healthy, complex carbohydrates (to provide for your energy needs), says Davidson. Nothing should be off-limits when it comes to a healthy, well-balanced diet that promotes weight loss. Since we all have different genetics, lifestyles and vary in age and gender, “there’s no one diet that could possibly work for everyone, and we need to figure out what works for each of us individually,” she says. “We can get easily caught up in thinking that if something works for others, it should work for us, and if it doesn’t, we are somehow failing,” says Brancato. This yo-yo dieting cycle can also make you think a lack of willpower is the issue (and make you feel badly about yourself) - when that’s rarely the case, she says. You can also wind up resenting the way you’re eating and feel guilty for eating something deemed ‘bad.’ In turn, this “can set up a vicious cycle of restricting and bingeing, leading you to feel even more like a failure,” says Brancato. For one: “When we restrict too much or overexercise, we actually can end up hurting our metabolism,” explains Lindsay Brancato, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist. The road to your goal may be windy, but you can still arrive at your desired destination by using any setback to your advantage.Īdditionally, people often follow restrictive fad diets, which can backfire big time. There are many reasons we fail when trying to slim down, but the key is to learn from - and not feel derailed by - detours. Throughout history, weight was great, as it allowed us to survive the droughts, famines and times when the hunt was unsuccessful.”īiologically, weight loss isn’t easy, and setbacks are inevitable. “After 2 million years, our brains have become designed to store fat effectively to enhance survival.

The truth is, a lack of success when it comes to diet and exercise is not the exception it’s the rule, explains Paul Davidson, PhD, director of behavioral health at the Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. If your goal is to shed pounds, any result that doesn’t involve a lower number on the scale can feel like a major setback. Failure has so many negative connotations - especially in the context of weight loss.

How to keep on track losing weight